NYC man sues health care provider Fidelis Care, says Obamacare gave him few options and insurer's site was 'plagued with errors'

A man looks over the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare) signup page on the HealthCare.gov website. (MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS)

Trying to find a gynecologist for his wife on a New York state health care exchange gave a Manhattan lawyer a major headache.

In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Robert Neal Halpern says he and his wife were automatically enrolled in Fidelis Care after their previous Affordable Health Care Act insurer, Official Health Plan Marketplace, went belly-up in November.

The suit says it seemed like a good option - Fidelis Care claims to cover over one million New Yorkers and its website says customers have access to "more than 67,000 quality providers in our network across New York State."

But the suit says that number is inflated, as he found out earlier this month when he tried to find an ob-gyn for his wife.

A search on Fidelis's website turned up a list of 216 doctors within three miles of his home in the 10003 zip code who seemed to fit the bill.

But when Halpern, 60, took a closer look, he saw the list really only had 30 different doctors on it, "as most doctors appear multiple times with their telephone numbers and addresses repeated."

Halpern says he tried contact "all or almost all of the doctors on the list" and found it was "plagued with errors," including listing several doctors who don't accept Fidelis.

Other doctors' numbers weren't for doctors at all - some of the numbers he called wound up being for a Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Office and the Legal Aid Society.

In all, the list of 216 turned up only eight ob-gyns who accepted Fidelis Care, the suit says.

Halpern says had he known how misleading the list was, he would have gone with another insurance company - and he's switching to a different one in January.

His suit, which is seeking class action status on behalf of people who've been duped by Fidelis, seeks $550 in damages for Fidelis's "misleading" conduct.

A rep for Fidelis Care said in a statement that the company has "no knowledge of a lawsuit filed by Mr. Halpern," and that it has plenty of doctors on board.

"As a health plan serving 1.4 million members, Fidelis Care has a statewide network of more than 67,000 providers that includes a significant number of OB/GYNs in New York City," the statement said.